The New Year....Day 132

This will be short as my daughter, husband, and I are in a mean game of Wheel of Fortune on the PS3. :). Things sure do change once you have kids, New Year's is staying at home in your pj's trying to keep your eyes open to see the ball drop.  There are many things that  I am thankful for this last year, I will reflect tomorrow.  Tonight I am thankful for this time with my family, thankful that even though Landry is sick again, at least he is not in the hospital, and he is still playing, eating, and drinking.  Happy New Year to all of you and may you seek JOY every single day in 2014!

My sweet congested and coughing little man napping today. He loves his cars!

Playing Wheel of Fortune 

Girls beat daddy in Wheel of Fortune!!!

Day 131...Cosby Show with My Girl

I am absolutely lovin' introducing my girl to the all time classic show - The Cosby's! Her giggles throughout are so fun to hear and watch.  It is sad when your kids grow up, but there are so many fun things that you can do as your child gets older, for me right now, watching shows other than cartoons!  I wish there were more family shows like The Cosby Show on now.  I have always loved The Cosby's and have the whole 1st season thanks to my husband who bought it 10 yrs ago for my birthday!
Thankful for this day and spending it with my kiddos.  Thankful for visits from great-grandparents and a nice winter comfort food dinner, baked steak, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli, and sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar.  I am most certainly thankful for ending the night in bed with my sweet girl watching The Cosby Show! I am wishing Christmas break would never end!

Organizing... Day 130

I sometimes tend to get little down when Christmas is over and when I'm taking down my Christmas decorations.  However, today as we were taking everything down, Josh said something that made perfect sense.  "It's a new year, new things, and another year with me!" He is a very wise man! 

So as I took things down, I began organizing and rearranging furniture, something I love to do.  I am thankful for new beginnings, thankful for rearranged furniture,  makes our house seem different, and I'm thankful for my sweet and wise hubby who reminded me of the positive.

I am thankful for a few more days off of work to be with my kids.  God is good!

Here are some pics of our obnoxious puppy who thought she was helping me take down the tree today..she's adorable but a big pain in the rear!

Family Time...Day 128

It is always fun to watch cousins who don't see each other often, play together. Today was our family Christmas with my dad, grandparents, and my brother and his family, and the cousins sure enjoyed each other.  They remind me of old friends who may never see each other often, but always pick up where they left off.  I am thankful my kids have cousins to grow up with even though we live a few hours apart.  Today was also family picture day, something my grandma really wanted and I know she prayed really hard that none of the kids would be sick and that it wouldn't snow so we could get a picture of the whole family.  To my surprise it went smoothly considering we had six kids with a 2 yr.old, 2- 3yr. olds, 2-7 yr.olds, and an 8 yr.old. :) I believe we got at least a few with EVERYONE looking at the camera!  I think the most enjoyable part was at the end and we let the kids just play and pose how they wanted; they will probably be the best shots! Thankful for family time, thankful my grandma got her wish of having this picture taken!

Here are a few shots from the photo shoot and of today!

Day 128...A Reminder of Why Putting Forth An Effort Into Relationships Are Important

Tonight was such a great night well spent.  We spent time with some very special friends whom we haven't seen in a long time.  This isn't because we live far away, we are only 30 minutes apart, but we let the busyness and lack of convenience get in the way of hanging out.  I thought as I got older that relationships would be easier, less drama, less dishonesty, and more of people being real, honest, and more accepting of who you are as a person.  Sadly, this isn't the case at all, infact it has gotten worse.  

There are very few people who I honestly can say the latter of my above list, and it is sad.  I am so thankful for tonight, it was a great reminder for me that making time for people is by far worth more than anything else.  When you make time for people, you are doing life together, which in fact helps you get through the hard times easier, and makes life more fun to share the joyous occasions.  Thankful for good friends, thankful for this reminder tonight that putting the effort into people is worth every second, thankful when you can pick right up where you left off with good friends.  God is good!

Day 127... Movie With My Love

Today was a rather difficult day. But I am incredibly thankful for the day ending on a positive note. Josh and I had some time with little man while Hadley is spending the night with Grammy. Our night ended with lots of giggles from our little boy and movie time with my love and our furry kids. Thankful for family time and thankful for laughter.

Day 126...One of the Best Christmas'

I would have to say that this has been one of the best Christmas' I have had.  Here are my reason's of thankfulness today.
1. The first thing we did and always do when everyone wakes up on Christmas morning is light candles on Jesus' birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  This was the first year that Landry is understanding this and it was very sweet.
2.  We DID NOT travel anywhere today! This is a tradition we have done a few times since Hadley was born and I absolutely love it when we do.  My kids (and the hubby) stayed in their pj's all day, we weren't rushed in opening gifts, etc, and we just enjoyed each other, their new gifts, food, and family.  Seriously, what a relaxing day!
3.  Watching my children play with their toys so intently.  Landry absolutely loved his big elephant stuffed animal and carried it around with him all day and then would go back to his normal everyday favorite toys; his cars.  He didn't care much to open presents, in fact there are a few still under the tree he hasn't opened, which is just fine with me.  We try really hard as parents to teach them that Christmas isn't about the presents.  Hadley got a new desk, chair, and all the fun little things for her desk - all pink of course.  She spent all day organizing it, writing notes on her new paper.  She also recieved the whole set of Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and she probably has read a whole book already.
4.  Spending time with my husband.  Due to both of us working a lot, it has been so incredibly nice to be with each other these past few days.  It has been good for my sould to spend time with him.
5.  Saving the best and most meaningful for last - Jesus - A tradition that we started for our birthdays is that at our dinner, we all go around and say what we love about that person.  I was excited that at breakfast this morning Hadley said we should say what we love about Jesus.  The things that were mentioned from us were probably the top for me.
What I said: - forgiveness, He always forgives no matter what we have done
Hadley - He loves us no matter what, even the people who dont love Him - Seriously, she hit it on the head.
Jesus loves us despite of how we feel about Him, and He will never stop loving us.
Landry - milk - lol, he's 3 and was drinking his milk at the time
Josh - He died for us and that He had this planned all along even as a baby to save us.

What a wonderful Christmas Day!  Here are a few pics I took on my phone.  The best ones were taken on my real camera and I haven't taken them off yet.  Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you!